Dating of divergences within the Rattus genus phylogeny using whole mitochondrial genomes

The timing and order of divergences within the genus Rattus have, to date, been quite speculative. In order to address these important issues we sequenced six new whole mitochondrial genomes from wild-caught specimens from four species, Rattus exulans, Rattus praetor, Rattus rattus and Rattus tanezumi. The only rat whole mitochondrial genomes available previously were all from Rattus norvegicus specimens. Our phylogenetic and dating analyses place the deepest divergence within Rattus at ∼3.5 million years ago (Mya). This divergence separates the New Guinean endemic R. praetor lineage from the Asian lineages. Within the Asian/Island Southeast Asian clade R. norvegicus diverged earliest at ∼2.9 Mya. R. exulans and the ancestor of the sister species R. rattus and R. tanezumi subsequently diverged at ∼2.2 Mya, with R. rattus and R. tanezumi separating as recently as ∼0.4 Mya. Our results give both a better resolved species divergence order and diversification dates within Rattus than previous studies.

Chroma Key Theatre : an examination of similarities and divergences in the use of Green Screen in two experimental theatre works

This paper examines the frame as it contributes to the debate on contemporary intermedial theatre and performance practices in light of increasing astriction between filmic and theatrical discourses. Informed by Auslander (1999), Lehmann (2006), and Giesekam (2007), and through an extrapolation of the tenets Eckersall, Gretchen and Scheer identify in the theory of New Media Dramaturgy, it will analyse two recent works of experimental theatre-making. RUFF (2013), a New York produced solo performance by one of the world’s leading female performers, explores her experiences of having a stroke. Total Dik! (2013), produced in Brisbane, Australia, is an interdisciplinary collaborative performance that examines aspects of dictatorship. They are clearly very different works yet there are a number of significant theatrical similarities in their use of Chroma Key technology and live compositing as material scenic devices. These works overtly and evocatively draw on the cinematic technique and technology of Chroma Key to augment and reveal the tensions and overlaps in their production processes.

Infrared divergences and confinement in massive (2+1)-dimensional QED

In (2+1)-dimensional quantum electrodynamics with massless photons and massive matter fields, it is shown that the mass renormalization of the latter is infrared divergent at one loop. This result remains unchanged at two loops. A simple argument based on a similar divergence of the Coulomb potential leads us to conjecture that charged states are not observable in this model. This argument holds in 1+1 dimensions also.

Nonequilibrium phase transition in the kinetic Ising model: Divergences of fluctuations and responses near the transition point

The nonequilibrium dynamic phase transition in the kinetic Ising model in the presence of an oscillating magnetic field is studied by Monte Carlo simulation. The fluctuation of the dynamic older parameter is studied as a function of temperature near the dynamic transition point. The temperature variation of appropriately defined ''susceptibility'' is also studied near the dynamic transition point. Similarly, the fluctuation of energy and appropriately defined ''specific heat'' is studied as a function of temperature near the dynamic transition point. In both cases, the fluctuations (of dynamic order parameter and energy) and the corresponding responses diverge (in power law fashion) near the dynamic transition point with similar critical behavior (with identical exponent values).

Divergences in the Long Run Trends in the Price of Energy and of Energy Services

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Implications of divergences in Adult Protection legislation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the similarities and differences of legal responses to older adults who may be at risk of harm or abuse in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw upon a review of elder abuse and adult protection undertaken on behalf of the commissioner for older people in Northern Ireland. This paper focusses on the desk top mapping of the different legal approaches and draws upon wider literature to frame the discussion of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the different legal responses.
Findings – Arguments exist both for and against each legal approach. Differences in defining the scope and powers of adult protection legislation in the UK and internationally are highlighted.
Research limitations/implications – This review was undertaken in late 2013; while the authors have updated the mapping to take account of subsequent changes, some statutory guidance is not yet available. While the expertise of a group of experienced professionals in the field of adult safeguarding was utilized,
it was not feasible to employ a formal survey or consensus model.
Practical implications – Some countries have already introduced APL and others are considering doing so. The potential advantages and challenges of introducing APL are highlighted.
Social implications – The introduction of legislation may give professionals increased powers to prevent and reduce abuse of adults, but this would also change the dynamic of relationships within families and between families and professionals.
Originality/value – This paper provides an accessible discussion of APL across the UK and internationally
which to date has been lacking from the literature.

Teacher education in the United Kingdom post devolution: convergences and divergences

This paper examines the roles of research in teacher education across the four nations of the United Kingdom. Both devolution and on-going reviews of teacher education are facilitating a greater degree of cross-national divergence. England is becoming a distinct outlier, in which the locus for teacher education is moving increasingly away from Higher Education Institutions and towards an ever-growing number of school-based providers. While the idea of teaching as a research-based profession is increasingly evident in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, it seems that England, at least in respect of the political rhetoric, recent reforms and explicit definitions, is fixed on a contrastingly divergent trajectory towards the idea of teaching as a craft-based occupation, with a concomitant emphasis on a (re)turn to the practical. It is recommended that research is urgently needed to plot these divergences and to examine their consequences for teacher education, educational research and professionalism.

La Thérapie d'impact et la relation d'aide ponctuelle : divergences et convergences

Le modèle de la relation d'aide ponctuelle en psychologie des relations humaines est une approche qui a été développée à l'Université de Sherbrooke. Ce modèle d'intervention se base principalement sur la théorie de l'actualisation et sur les principes de la coopération (St-Arnaud, 1996, 1995). Croyant que tout individu possède les ressources pour résoudre ses problèmes et s'autodéterminer, les tenants de ce modèle travaillent en collaboration avec leurs clients afin d'activer leur processus naturel de croissance. La Thérapie d 'Impact, pour sa part, est une nouvelle approche qui a été développée par Ed J acobs, Ph.D. (1994), de l'Université de West Virginia aux États-Unis. Ce modèle d'intervention est actuellement popularisé au Canada par la psychologue Danie Beaulieu, Ph.D. et Maître Certifiée en Thérapie d'impact. Cette approche utilise des moyens concrets, dynamiques et visuels afin d'impliquer davantage l'aidé dans son processus thérapeutique. Pour ce faire, elle intègre plusieurs courants psychologiques dont, entre autres : l’Analyse Transactionnelle (Stewart & Joines, 1987), la Thérapie Émotivo-rationnelle (Ellis, 1962), la Thérapie de la Réalité (Glasser & Zunin, 1979), des techniques de la Gestalt (Passons, 1975), etc.

Convergences et divergences entre fédéralisme et protection des droits et libertés : l’exemple des Etats-Unis et du Canada

Un résumé en anglais est également disponible.

Convergences et divergences dans les conceptions de la morale de Ronald Dworkin et Alasdair MacIntyre

Ce mémoire porte sur l’articulation de la morale en droit. Il soulève la question de l’objectivité de la morale dans la théorie du droit de Ronald Dworkin. Celui-ci doit pouvoir établir les critères de justification de la morale pour asseoir son autorité en droit. Il conteste la validité de la règle de reconnaissance de Hart qui exclue la morale comme source et comme justification inhérente au droit. Dans son dernier livre, Justice for Hedgehogs (2011), Dworkin présente sa thèse de l’unité de valeur entre le droit, la morale personnelle et la morale politique. Pour réussir à intégrer la morale au droit, il doit en défendre l’objectivité. Il développe une conception de la rationalité pratique et de la vérité propre à la morale. Sa conception de la rationalité pratique est rapprochée de celle d’Alasdair MacIntyre. Celui-ci rejette la prétention issue des Lumières d’une rationalité pratique universelle et neutre. Il développe une conception de la rationalité pratique fondée sur le concept de tradition d’investigation. Il fait l’histoire des principales traditions d’investigation depuis l’antiquité jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Il considère la tradition aristotélicienne supérieure, celle-ci réussissant mieux à donner objectivité et intelligibilité à la morale. Des points de convergence ou de divergence sont identifiés dans les conceptions de la morale de Dworkin et de MacIntyre. Ce rapprochement porte sur leurs positions respectives face aux principaux fondements théoriques en philosophie morale, leurs conceptions de la rationalité pratique et leurs définitions des notions de droit et de justice.